NathanR
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Posts posted by NathanR
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52 minutes ago, anyUser said:I'd say there is (some) strain.
Ok, many thanks for checking. Guess it's back to the drawing board for me.
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I have a question on Lego tolerances. When I build a ring using 4L axles and the #3 axle connector (157.5 degrees), Stud.io tells me the resultant 16-sided polygon has a diameter of 500.2 LDU. If I put 1x1 technic bricks with the +-shaped axle holes on four of the sides, can I safely attach them to a single baseplate without stressing the elements?
I've done this before with an octagon using 4L axles, #4 axle connector, and the side-to-side diameter was 241.4LDU, which worked (and has appeared in an official lego set) but was a bit tight. Unfortunately I don't have enough #3 connectors to test a hexadecagon.
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2 hours ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:42178 Space Wheel Loader LT78 - 435 pcs - $34.99 (German name: Weltraumradlader LT78 - Surface Space Loader LT78)
42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit - 526 pcs - $79.99 (German name: Sonne Erde Mond Modell - Sun Earth Moon Model)
42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover - 1599 pcs - $149.99 (German name: Mars Exploration Rover)
42181 VTOL Heavy Cargo Spaceship LT81 - 1366 pcs - $99.99 (German name: VTOL Schwerlastraumfrachter LT81 - VTOL Heavy Cargo Spaceship LT81)
I am super excited for these space sets! 42179 will be an incredibly novel departure from the usual technic lineup.
I imagine 42178 ahs 42181 are designed to work together, based on the common "LT" number. Also, neat reference to the founding years of technic...
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Not strictly a technic question, but I thought maybe someone with experience of GBCs might be able to help. I'm trying to build a working hourglass sand timer out of Lego bricks, with pairs of 67950 3x6x6 half cylinders for each chamber and a 2x2 square opening between the top and bottom halves of the hourglass. I would have thought that any 1x1 element would fall freely through this setup, but everything just locks together in the top half of the hourglass and refuses to drain out. I've tried 1x1 round plates, 1x1 round tiles, 32606 flower, 11609 star tile, 30153 jewel, and even technic 1/2 bushes (which worked well the first 2-3 tries, then they all started automatically stacking up into columns). Will these elements mesh together and block up anyway, no matter what size aperture? If the aperture is too small, then what size NxN hole is needed to ensure smooth flow of 1x1 particles?
(Also, are there any smaller Lego elements that I could try to use as "sand"?)
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Hi all, it's me again, still working on the Atlas model. I'm trying to create a thin, C-shaped bracket - basically an octagon with a few sides removed - but the top of the bracket needs to be rigid as it will carries some weight.
Can something like this work?
It seems valid in Stud.io, but is it actually "in system"? Do the click hinges have a pivot point that matches the centre of a technic pin hole?
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Thanks for all the advice, it's reassuring to know that pins aren't that fragile.
6 hours ago, pleegwat said:Would it be possible to use 1x2 jumper plates to bridge the half-stud offset?
I considered that, but then I would need an odd-sized technic brick to fill the gap. And there just aren't enough pin holes available to hold the beams together and slot them into a brick.
21 minutes ago, mdemerchant said:Your large render seems to have different support than your first image. It now looks like you are using 2x 3L pin with bush for each connection point, is that right?
Oh dear, I grabbed an older render, I was just trying to show the overall structure that frame has to support. I have five octagonal frames, a 4L wide one that uses the 3L pin with bush, and four other frames that sue the 3L pin with stop.
My new solution is to add in a few 1x2 bricks with 2 holes, and 1x2 plates with pin hole. This feels a bit wrong, somehow, like there should be a more elegant way to do it, but it uses every available pin hole:
25 minutes ago, mdemerchant said:I would be more worried about the octagon shape getting distorted from the weight but I have no experience with the click hinges. I guess you have a lot of them but am I correct in thinking they are the only thing holding the octagon in shape?
You make a good point, the click hinges are the main thing holding the shape, and I will have a total of six hinges distributed along the length of the barrel. However, I have more planned.
The reason I use a pair of 7L beams for each side of the octagon, instead of a single 15L beam, is that the diameter of the ring is 41.04 studs. That's close enough to be in system. You may have spotted some radial beams on the render, these are connected to an axle passing through the hole in the click hinges. The axle should bisect the octagon corner, at 67.5 degrees, but if I move them to 67.4 degrees then the radial beam forms the hypotenuse of a 5-12-13 Pythagorean triple. I use half this due to lack of space, so it's really a 2.5-6-6.5 triangle.
At 6.5 studs from the pin hole in the click hinges, I can link a pair of the radial beams with a 13L beam. 13L is another magic number, as an octagon with side length 12 modules (or 13 pin holes) will be 28.97 studs across. So by mirroring the base section at the top of the barrel, I will get (Pythagorean triple + octagon + Pythagorean triple) = (6 + 28.97 + 6) = 40.97, almost perfectly matching the outer octagon.
The smaller octagon doesn't need to use click hinges, I can use part 79846 which conveniently has a pin hole at the corner, reinforce it with plates and brackets so it cannot be compressed, and that should be strong enough to lock the outer ring in place, and transmit all the weight directly down into the base block.
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18 minutes ago, Jurss said:Only suggestion - multiply connection points.
I'm just curious - where there will be 7kg+?
You're right, of course, but I just don't see how to add additional connections points... It's awkward because I have transition from odd-based studless technic to even-based Lego system.
The 7kg comes from what's on top. This is a prototype render, with only three of the octagon frames - the central ones are are C-shaped brackets, the outer two are full O-shaped rings. An inner octagon rings, built using the new 79846 bent plate will provide some extra support, but ultimately all the weight goes down to the technic beams on the bottom of the barrel. More blue blocks (muon chambers) will be suspended from the 3x3 cylinders running the length of the model (the toroid magnet coils). Then there will be an entire separate cylinder unit inserted in the centre, housing the calorimeters and inner detector:
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Hi everyone, I'm trying to build a large scale model of the ATLAS detector at Cern, using regular system bricks suspended from a technic skeleton.
The model is basically an octagonal barrel. I use 44224/44225 click hinges to form the corners, and two 7L beams to get a side length of 17 modules (or 18 studs) to get an octagon diameter that is close enough to be in system (41.04 studs diameter). I have a technic axle running the length of the model through the holes in the click hinges. I also use two of 32557 to hold the frame in place above the blue base block:
There will be five such octagonal frames, but ultimately all the weight of the model (estimate about 7-8kg) will be going through the two 77765 3L pin with stop at the base of each frame. I don't think the pins can carry this weight, and I don't see how to add technic bricks for support because the beam is an even-number length. Is there any way to make this connection stronger?
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1 hour ago, BrickMatit said:I really appreciated the old LEGO Harry Potter games, but the first one had some really annoying bugs. Does someone know what Skywalker Saga-style treatment would mean?
They did a remastered 2-game collection a few years ago, giving you all 8 movies on one disc, it seems to have fixed all the bugs.
The Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga game gave you the traditional levels based on movie scenes, but also a vast open world to explore. Every planet mentioned in the Star Wars movies is a location you can visit and explore - and the maps are huge. Each planet feels like it could have been a game in its own right, with dozens of mini games, puzzles and hilarious easter eggs. If Harry Potter gets the same treatment, then you can expect a vast and seamless open world covering every location from the books.
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I was at Bricktastic in Manchester, UK, yesterday and picked up two Lego Certified Professional sets produced by Bright Bricks. Both carry a "Brick Wildlife" label, one is an elephant and the other is a gorilla.
While I'm aware that certain designers have registered with Lego and are allowed to produce limited edition custom sets, these are the first I've ever actually seen or been able to acquire. Does anyone know what they were produced in aid of, and if there were any other animal models?
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19 minutes ago, psqidexslizer said:Maybe someone else can confirm this, but I remember hearing that translucent parts need a different mold than opaque parts.
That used to be the case. Transparent parts were made from polycarbonate, not ABS plastic, and the two materials shrink by different amounts when cooling after being moulded. However, the trans-clear parts recently changed plastic (remember the arguments about how windscreens now have a slightly "foggy" look?), I think it's supposed to be an ABS-type formula, so maybe they can now use one mould for all possible colours.
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Given the way it opens up, do you think it possible that the 76206 buildable Iron Man figure could be slotted inside?
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I updated to Stud.io 2.22.9(3) this morning, and now I can't save or open any .io files. I'm running MacOS, and whenever I try to open or save using the file browser I get the spinning beach ball of death and have to force quit the app. Curiously, if the file appears on the "Recently opened files" list on the startup splash screen, the model loads fine. Also, as I write this, I find that just moving focus away from the Stud.io app causes it to become unresponsive and generate the spinning beach ball.
Does anyone else see anything similar?
Are there MacOS security settings that I should have updated?
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The mechanism is very temperamental, but you don't need to add or change anything to make it work out-of-the-box.
The droid did keep jamming up, failing to unfold, the first few times I built it when I was a kid. However, do you remember the picture in the instructions of a technic beam being squeezed with gears either side and looking unhappy? That's exactly what you have to avoid!
The solution is to simply make sure that you don't press the technic parts together too tightly. Check that every moving part, down to the 2L pin connectors, can spin freely. If in doubt, pull beams, bushes, liftarms, etc. apart slightly on an axle so there is a visible gap between each one. The whole mechanism should be feeling "floppy"by the time you start adding rubber bands on.
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50 minutes ago, BrickHat said:Do friction pins lose their friction noticeably over time?
Not unless the pin is subjected to excessive wear and tear, e.g. you use it as a pivot that is constantly moving.
The black technic pins with friction from the 1980s were notorious for their excessive clutch power - once inserted into a technic pin hole, it was almost impossible to remove them, you had to use pliers! The redesigned version that appeared from ~1990 to the present day were made to be much easier to work with, but this meant they had lower friction as standard.
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Thought I was a bit overdue for giving another update - she's very nearly finished. The forward section of the roof was quite a challenge and in the end I just reverse-engineered @TGBDZ's MOC of the Ghost (I hope he won't mind - I could think of no better way to build this bit!). It's not quite in-system, and just rests on the forward hull plates with the glass canopy holding it in place. The rear roof was a lot easier, and I was able to build in the same central turret from the original Lego model - Zeb will be able to fit inside
One interesting quirk - to build the ridge around the upper gunnery turret, I'm relying on some white 3x3 round corner tiles. These don't existing white yet, but will be available on 1st of May, when they appear in the Horizon Forbidden West Tallneck. Something to look forward to...
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Another week gone and I am on a roll! The entire back end of the ship has gone together quite beautifully.
The aft plates on the top of the ship are supposed to twist slightly along their entire length, but I don't really have the vertical space (or the patience) to split the panel and try and rotate half of it on a pin. The sand blue triangular wedges make a good approximation.
I also managed to find a way to angle the triangular plates so that the ship looks a little fatter. Unfortunately, this means I now need to redesign the hull plates above and below the airlocks, so there can be a ridge where the airlock meets the rest of the ship. The dark grey 2x6 tiles are currently raised up, the rest of the plate will likely be raised to match, so it becomes completely smooth. I'm not so happy with this, as the raised 2x6 tiles adds good texturing, but if I raise them an extra plate then there's a nasty part collision, and I'm not sure the wiggle room in the frictionless mounting pins will be enough to allow it.
The back adds a few little greebles, and I managed to get the white border around the back plate. As a bonus, the border incorporates a 1x2 plate with rail, that acts as a support stop the aft underside hull plates from falling. Hopefully. The connection is a bit tight, but it should work - it relies on a clip with bar being slotted part way into a 1x1 technic brick with axle hole.
I'm now starting to have to make a few design compromises to balance the accuracy of a UCS model against the features of a minifigure playset. The two upper engines should be a lot bigger, and a little closer together, but I need to accommodate the Phantom which (at minifigure scale) is about twice and big as it should be to match the rest of the Ghost. It would be surprisingly easy to convert this into a nanofigure-scale UCS set!
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Just screenshots from the episodes, and the official schematics - there seems to be only one line-art drawing of the Season 1 Ghost going around...
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More new hull plates added! It's really tricky to get the colour patterns right with the available wedge plates, but it kind of works. Not sure I'm a fan of the sand blue for the aft plates.
Also starting to wonder if I've messed up the overall shape. The proportions just seem a little bit off, nothing I can really point to and say is wrong, but the ship feels a little flat, like Hera flew it sideways through a trash compactor.
I'm not sure, does it look ok or should I go back to the drawing board?
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Only a small update tonight. I've added in a couple of triangular wedges on the front of the Ghost. It has taken me days of playing about with Mixel ball joints to try and find the best pivot point, so that the wedges can angle downwards without colliding with the surrounding frame. Many thanks to @MAVERICK26 for a very interesting suggestion for how it could be done.
I'm still not entirely happy with my solution, as the triangles don't have the same angle as the grey panels above the airlock. It's not too bad I suppose, but I might have one more try using a similar technique to how I mounted the aft underside panels.
The back hull plates will follow next, they should be a mirror of the front, but will likely need a little bit of careful sculpting around the engines. The roof and the gun turret I'm hoping to steal from... errr.... I mean, take inspiration from DarthTwoShedsJackson's original. And then I get the fun of building an interior.
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If you use three 2x3 wedge plates to form a 4x9 triangle, how do you add a border to it?
That is the problem currently annoying me with the Ghost. The back plate is supposed to be very simple - it's flat, has some minor greebles, and just has to follow the shape formed by the surrounding hull plates. Indeed, a simple 4x9 triangle constructed from 3x6 wedge plates matches the hull plates quite nicely. But to add a border, I need to wrap plates around it, kind of like the grey edges on the wings of the 75300 Tie Fighter. The best I've got is this, but it doesn't work, the lower red clip is not "in system" and won't even attach to a jumper plate:
The 3x6 wedge plate has an angle of about 18.4 degrees, and crunching the numbers shows no right angled triangle that will give this angle while having a whole number of studs for all three edges. I've been trying to get clever with SNOT bricks and brackets, but it becomes too difficult for me to calculate and nothing really works when I eyeball it.
I kind of like this solution because I can add a 1x2 rail plate to the border, and it can add a bit of extra support to the main underside hull plates. They are only connected by hinge plates at the airlocks, and are definitely going to fall away under gravity. So if I can make this structurally solid, the ship should hold together:
Any ideas?
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4 hours ago, Jerac said:A standard solution so such slight angled gaps is using 1x4 and 1x2 panel pieces. You know, those of size of standard 1x4 and 1x2 bricks. You put them sideways so the narrow part covers the gap and that's essentially it.
Not sure I can get that to work on the long edge of the triangle wedge plates, but I will certainly give that a try!
4 hours ago, MAVERICK26 said:In regards to the rest of the build, it looks like you've been making amazing progress.
Thanks!
15 minutes ago, Kage Goomba said:@NathanR heeeey...your back. Nice.
It is good to be back :) I like what you're doing with the Otana by the way.
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Gosh, has it really been three months since I posted anything on this?? Things have been quite tough for me lately, and it's been hard to find the energy and enthusiasm to do any Lego design. Every time I work on the Ghost, I come away feeling depressed - it always looks messy, I feel my solutions are lacking elegance, and the price is spiralling out of control (I'm now on about 1800 pieces with an estimated price of 280 GBP). That said, I was quite touched that there are people who are still interested in the model, so here's an update!
The underside is finished, with some new giant wedge-shaped sections. The inner triangular wedge is at an angle that's just about in-system, but relies on the freedom of movement provided by frictionless technic pins. The flanking wedges, with the yellow stripes, are only mounted on bar/clip hinges at the midsection of the ship. No other attachment point is possible, so I'm not sure how to secure the plates and stop them falling under gravity. Still, it looks good:
The interior frame has had to be redesigned yet again. It still looks a bit awkward, and I wish I could figure out how to use fewer 1x16 technic bricks (they're expensive!) but it looks like it will work:
The front is basically finished. There's a new 6x7 windscreen coming in the speed champions this year (also appearing in grey as the nose of the new Mandalorian N1 starfighter) which looks like it would fit perfectly, but I don't know if it would leave enough room for Hera at the controls. You can see that Sabine would be able to fit in the nose gun turret, but there's not enough room to attach a control column for the turret guns. Even just a pair of levers would have been nice, but nothing will fit.
The interior is also taking shape. There's not much point to adding a cargo bay, as it's too small for figures to fit in, but the hatch retracts and you can see the archway pattern that supported the upper decks:
And finally, I dug out one of my old designs for the Phantom. It needs some work round the nose, to remove an unsightly half plate gap on the underside. I also really hate the windscreen, as it looks more like a truck than the shuttle, but it's a necessary evil - it gives the Phantom a shorter, stubbier nose while allowing enough room for Hera to sit at the controls while Ezra and Kanan sit in the back.
Well, that's it for now. I'll keep you posted as I do more on the Ghost. Next up will be the engine block and the tail fin.You have no idea how much I wish there was a 2x8 inverted curved slope...
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29 minutes ago, BrickMatit said:1) I've just received a message from LEGO saying they had problems with my last payment. They suggest me to see my order status online and contact the customer care service. But my order status says "Shipped" and all of the pieces I purchaed have "Shipped" as a status. Have you ever front this situation?
I had this happen to me once when I ordered some sets and some parts from B&P, at the same time, and paid with Paypal. Basically, Paypal would only allow funds to be taken from my account once for the order, so after Lego shipped out the sets to me, and billed me for them, Lego weren't able to get money from my account to pay for the parts from B&P. If I remember right, the B&P order had actually shipped before Lego realised this and contacted me for payment. I had to call customer service and pay by card over the phone.
51 minutes ago, BrickMatit said:2) I'm preparing a new order with some pieces I'm interesting in. Now, some of them are "Out of Stock", what would happened if I purchase them? Will LEGO remove them from my order?
B&P parts that are out of stock cannot be added to your shopping bag. Lego will automatically remove the parts that are out of stock and adjust your bill accordingly.
Where to get replacements for vintage rubber bands?
in LEGO Technic, Mindstorms, Model Team and Scale Modeling
Posted
I recently found my copy of the 8002 Star Wars Destroyer Droid, and some of the black rubber bands have become dry, brittle, and started to crack. Since they are a crucial part of the mechanism, I'd like to get some replacements. However, Lego stopped making the black rubber bands around 2006-7, so any rubber bands I get on bricklink will be at least 15 years old and probably just as fragile as the ones I have now.
Are there any non-Lego alternatives that you could recommend?
Or at least, detailed specs for the nominal rubber band size for set 8002?